Amongst all the bad press that is circulating about the poor service managing agents provide, at Block Recruit we felt it was time for a change. We hear every day about the amazing service property managers are providing to their clients and it should be celebrated! Introducing #LeaseholdChampions.

In March 2017 one of our blocks suffered a catastrophic fire that ended with half of the building being uninhabitable. This emergency situation unfolded at an incredibly fast pace and was a very challenging and anxious time for the residents involved, many of whom had to move out of their homes.

At PBM, we live by our core value of making life easy for our clients – even during difficult times. We know what matters in block management and always look for the best way to get a job done, but we also keep things human. Apartment living is about real people and their homes, so having a proactive but approachable person on-site during an emergency situation is critical. Within minutes of hearing about the fire at the block, Alex was in her car making the hour and a half trip down to the site.

Alex took a really hands-on approach, staying at the centre of the situation and liaising with the fire brigade, local authorities, all the residents and leaseholders. By being there in person, she helped to ensure that this awful experience was just a bit more bearable for those involved.

On the day of the fire Alex stayed onsite until midnight, keeping people reassured and up to speed on developments. She showed such support to residents and leaseholders that she had many approach her offering words of thanks and appreciation (plus a few well deserved hugs!) Every resident was able to find alternative accommodation that night because Alex was on-hand with relevant contact details and a hotline back to our head office for further support.

After the fire had been tackled, she then arranged safe access to the building so that residents could collect their personal belongings at times to suit them, This meant working onsite until the late hours of the evening for several days.

With insurance claims now well under way our job is to ensure the smooth running of all the repairs and to get people’s lives back to normal as quickly as possible. Alex deserves special praise because her actions and attitude were fantastic, but the entire team is a credit to our business. The way that we handled this situation is typical of normal behavior at PBM and shows just how much we want to make a difference in the property management world.